Presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday, April 23, asked her supporters not to be judgmental against people who hold different political beliefs than them.
She celebrated her 57th birthday with the “Araw Na10 ‘To” grand rally along the stretch of Macapagal Blvd. from J.W. Diokno Blvd. to the corner of Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) where a record-breaking 412,000 kakampinks, according to local organizers but has yet to be confirmed by local police, gathered for a show of force.
This rally is second to Robredo’s Pampanga sortie that drew 220,000 people.
“Pero dahil laban po natin ito para sa ating mga kababayan, kailangan buksan natin ‘yung ating mga puso. Huwag po tayong mapanghusga. Respetuhin po natin 'yung ibang iba naman 'yung paniniwala (Because this fight is for our countrymen, we need to open our hearts. Let’s not be judgmental. Let us respect very different beliefs),” the Vice President told the crowd.
While she is touched when her supporters defend her against detractors, she said that there is a better way to defend her.
“'Yung ayaw po nating ginagawa nila sa akin, huwag na po natin sa kanilang gawin, 'di ba? (What we don’t want them doing to me, let’s not do to them, right?),” Robredo stressed.
However, she also asked her supporters not to get tired of fighting against misinformation and fake news because this was her mistake in the past six years that she ignored them.
“Alam niyo po, noong nakaraang six years, napakaraming fake news sinasabi sa akin, pero hindi ko masyadong pinapansin kasi sabi ko istorbo lang (You know, in the past six years, there were many fake news against me, but I didn’t mind them because I said it was a nuisance),” Robredo said.
“Pero mali pala ako. Kailangan pag fake news, sinasabi kaagad natin na kasinungalingan 'yan at 'yung kasinungalingan palitan natin ng katotohanan (But I was wrong. When it’s about fake news, we need to say that those are lies and we need to replace the lies with the truth),” she added.
The aspiring president acknowledged the big-named celebrities and influencers who had been trooping to her rallies to volunteer and perform for free.
What could be the reason they were willing to risk their careers?, Robredo asked.
"Dahil naniniwala sila, nasa kamay nating lahat ang kapangyarihan (Because they believe that the power lies on our hands),” she said.
The Vice President stressed that politicians do not wield “true power, but it lies on the hands of ordinary people.
“Kaya sana po tumiwala tayo sa kapangyarihan natin. Ipakita po natin sa May 9 kung nasaan 'yung tunay na kapangyarihan (Hopefully, we will have faith in our power. Let’s show on May 9 where the true power is),” Robredo added.